FOUR  YEARS  IN 

LIBERIA 


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BISHOP  ISAIAH  B.  SCOTT 


Four  Years  in  Liberia 


By  BISHOP  ISAIAH  B.  SCOTT 


The  Quadrennial  Report  to  the  General 
Conference  of  1908 


Price,  Five  Cents 


AFRICA  DIAMOND  JUBILEE  COMMISSION 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
150  FIFTH  AVENUE 
NEW  YORK 


PRINTED  DECEMBER,  1908 


FOUR  YEARS  IN  LIBERIA 


It  is  with  sincere  gratitude  to  our  heavenly  Father,  who  has 
been  pleased  to  call  me  to  the  work  I  have  been  doing  during  the 
past  quadrennium,  and  with  the  highest  appreciation  for  the 
words  of  encouragement  and  the  financial  assistance  of  friends 
throughout  the  Church,  that  I  come  to  our  people  with  this 
my  first  quadrennial  report.  I  do  not  flatter  myself  with  the 
belief  that  I  have  done  all  that  might  have  been  done,  nor  that  I 
have  accomplished  as  much  as  someone  better  qualified  for  the 
work  could  have  done,  yet  I  do  say  sincerely  and  conscientiously 
I  have  done  the  very  best  I  could  in  carrying  forward  the  work 
committed  to  my  hands.  I  have  had  special  supervision  of  the 
Liberia  Annual  Conference,  although  I  have  visited  the  missions 
in  the  West  Central  Africa  Mission  Conference,  going  over  them 
in  company  with  Bishop  Hartzell  as  carefully  as  it  was  possible 
to  do  in  a  visit  of  a  few  weeks.  Liberia  is  the  oldest  foreign 
mission  field  in  the  Church,  and  is  situated  north  of  the  equator, 
but  sufficiently  near  so  that  its  entire  area  is  within  the  Torrid 
Zone  and  subject  to  the  varied  peculiarities  and  climatic  disad¬ 
vantages  of  all  equatorial  regions.  I  have  spent  as  much  time 
on  the  ground  traveling  throughout  the  bounds  of  the  Confer¬ 
ence  as  I  thought  was  best  for  me  and  the  most  rapid  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  work.  I  have  given  close  attention  to  the  churches 
and  missions  already  established  and  have  opened  a  number  of 
others  at  varying  distances  from  the  coast,  the  farthest  being 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Some  of  these  new  missions  are 
so  located  that  they  constitute  a  chain  inter iorward  and  reach 
native  people  who  have  never  before  been  provided  with  either 
teachers  or  preachers.  A  few  of  the  stations  are  well  equipped, 
while  others  are  being  conducted  in  buildings  that  are  neither 
permanent  nor  substantial. 

While  with  Bishop  Hartzell  in  Angola  we  held  the  first 

3 


4 


FOUR  YEARS  IN  LIBERIA 


Bishops’  Conference  ever  held  in  Africa  by  Bishops  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  There  we  laid  our  plans  for  the 
quadrennium  and  for  the  Diamond  Jubilee,  which  we  hope  to 
see  profitably  observed  throughout  the  Church.  We  did  not 
fully  realize  all  we  hoped  to  accomplish  previous  to  the 
assembling  of  the  General  Conference,  but  there  has,  neverthe¬ 
less,  been  enough  achieved  to  indicate  the  glorious  victories  we 
hope  and  pray  for  in  the  near  future. 

In  January,  1907,  Bishop  Burt  visited  the  Liberia  Annual 
Conference  as  the  representative  of  the  General  Superintendents. 
Though  necessarily  brief,  his  visit  made  an  excellent  impression 
on  the  Conference  and  the  people.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Bishop  Hartzell,  and  all  seemed  much  gratified  to  have  present 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  work  and  of  the  republic 
three  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Bishop  Burt 
lectured  on  “Italy,”  and  both  he  and  Bishop  Hartzell  preached 
on  Sunday,  to  the  delight  of  the  splendid  audiences  that  came 
out  to  hear  them.  The  Bishops  were  invited  out  to  several  din¬ 
ners  and  a  reception  given  by  our  Methodist  people,  and  also  to 
the  New  Years  reception  given  by  President  and  Mrs.  Barclay. 
There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  presence  of  these  brethren 
impressed  our  membership  as  did  nothing  else  during  the 
quadrennium  that  the  interest  of  the  Church  in  the  salvation 
of  Africa  is  greater  now  than  ever  before. 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS  OF  THE  FIELD 

The  prevailing  opinion  among  those  familiar  with  the  sani¬ 
tary  conditions  of  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  is  that  there  is 
constant  improvement.  Civilization  is  constantly  inaugurating 
changes  which  make  the  coast  more  habitable  and  healthful. 
Then,  too,  the  diseases  peculiar  to  that  region  are  better  under¬ 
stood  by  physicians,  and,  while  they  are  not  absolutely  under 
their  control,  the  indications  are  that  ere  long  they  will  be 
entirely  mastered.  It  cannot  be  said  that  those  unacclimated  do 
not  have  fever  occasionally,  nor  that  there  is  not  now  and  then 
a  death  resulting  therefrom,  but  neither  of  these  is  as  frequent 
as  in  former  years.  Such  conditions  have  been  brought  about 
by  the  commercial  interest  Europe  has  in  Africa.  Her  purpose 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  SCOTT 


5 

is  to  blot  out  as  near  as  possible  everything  and  everybody  that 
hinder  the  progress  of  commerce.  Medical  schools  have  been 
established  in  Europe  which  make  special  study  of  tropical  dis¬ 
eases,  and  the  additional  knowledge  thus  acquired  has  proven 
extremely  beneficial  to  all  concerned. 

Our  workers  in  Liberia  have  suffered  somewhat  during  the 
quadrennium  from  fever,  and  yet  the  universal  testimony  among 
them  is  that  they  suffer  far  less  now  than  was  the  case  a  few 
years  ago.  Some  have  been  compelled  to  come  home  for  a  change, 
which  has,  as  a  rule,  proven  beneficial,  but,  taken  all  in  all,  we 
have  reasons  to  congratulate  ourselves  that  so  few  have  been 
compelled  to  leave  the  field. 

Professor  Thomas  R.  McWilliams,  a  graduate  of  the  State 
University  of  Kansas,  and  a  man  possessing  special  gifts  as  a 
teacher  of  the  sciences,  was  called  to  his  reward  in  April,  1905. 
He  was  a  teacher  in  the  College  of  West  Africa.  Just  previous 
to  his  death  his  wife  returned  to  the  States  in  poor  health,  and 
in  a  few  months  thereafter  passed  into  the  beyond  to  join  her 
husband. 

In  September,  1907,  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Robertson,  a  man  seventy- 
one  years  of  age,  who  went  as  a  missionary  to  Africa  in  1890, 
during  Bishop  Taylor’s  administration,  was  called  home.  He 
died  at  his  post,  and  I  feel  confident  that  he  never  did  a  better 
year’s  work  than  during  the  last  year  of  his  life.  He  built  a 
splendid  mission  house  and  a  new  church  with  very  little  ex¬ 
pense  to  the  Board.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  and  his  excellent 
wife  were  in  charge  of  the  Binos  Industrial  Mission. 

Miss  Agnes  McAllister  went  to  the  field  nineteen  years  ago, 
and  was  desirous  of  rounding  out  twenty  years  of  service  for 
the  salvation  of  Africa,  but  was  not  permitted  to  do  so.  Hot 
feeling  as  strong  as  usual  the  latter  part  of  the  past  year,  she 
was  granted  a  furlough.  Just  previous  to  the  assembling  of 
the  Annual  Conference  she  asked  that  her  work  be  provided  for 
that  she  might  start  home,  and  went  directly  to  the  Madeira 
Islands.  Here  she  spent  a  few  weeks  and  then  went  to  Paris, 
hoping  that  by  thus  delaying  her  home-coming  the  warm  season 
would  have  set  in  in  the  States  by  the  time  of  her  arrival.  But 
the  summons  to  her  heavenly  home  came  to  her  in  Paris,  and  in 
her  death  the  Church  loses  a  faithful  worker,  and  the  native 


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FOUR  YEARS  IN  LIBERIA 


African  will  never  find  a  more  devoted  friend.  She  has  done  a 
great  work  in  Africa. 

THE  PEOPLE'S  READINESS  FOR  THE  GOSPEL 

As  the  result  of  my  own  observation,  as  well  as  that  of  others 
who  have  had  exceptional  opportunity  to  study  conditions  in 
Africa,  I  am  confident  that  the  native  is  more  anxious  for  the 
gospel  to-day  than  ever  before.  There  are  more  applications  by 
far  for  the  establishment  of  schools  and  churches  than  I  can 
possibly  comply  with.  There  has  been  such  a  positive  and 
emphatic  awakening  along  this  line  that  we  all  feel  the  day  of 
Africa's  salvation  has  come.  During  the  year  just  closed  it  was 
my  privilege  to  travel  hundreds  of  miles  by  canoe  and  on  foot  in 
the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  I  passed  through  tribe  after 
tribe  that,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  had  never  seen  a  missionary. 
Everything  tended  to  indicate  that  they  were  undoubtedly  what 
are  called  raw  heathen;  yet  the  people  of  many  of  the  towms 
begged  me  for  teachers  and  preachers.  I  cannot  begin  to  tell 
you  how  my  heart  went  out  to  them.  I  assure  you  it  is  an 
exceedingly  pathetic  thing  to  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
throng  of  ignorant,  degraded  human  beings  "who  beg  for  the 
bread  of  life  as  a  child  begs  his  parent  for  food,  when  you  know 
you  are  unable  to  satisfy  their  hunger.  But  when  they  would 
see  our  mission  boys  who  accompanied  me  and  listen  to  them 
sing  and  pray  they  seemed  to  feel  that  Jesus  could  do  for  them 
what  had  been  done  for  others,  and  0,  how  I  would  praise  God 
to  be  able  to  put  a  competent  teacher  and  worker  in  every  one 
of  these  towns.  I  did  begin  work  at  a  few  places  and  am  much 
gratified  at  the  outcome.  Whenever  I  would  ask  the  people 
what  they  would  do  to  start  a  mission  among  them,  they  almost 
invariably  replied  that  they  would  help  to  build  a  house,  and  this 
they  have  done  in  five  different  places  where  the  work  has  been 
taken  up  by  native  Christians.  Such  houses  do  not  last  more 
than  two  or  three  years,  but  they  show  the  spirit  of  the  people 
and  furnish  shelter  for  those  who  open  up  the  work.  I  am  pray¬ 
ing  that  God  may  open  the  way  for  us  to  replace  these  buildings 
at  an  early  day  with  small  iron  mission  houses,  such  as  we  are 
compelled  to  use  in  the  climate  of  that  section.  The  time  was, 
and  that  in  the  not  very  distant  past,  when  the  people  required  a 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  SCOTT 


7 


gift  to  permit  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  their  towns. 
But  I  thank  God  that  day  has  passed  and,  I  hope,  passed  forever. 

Some  months  ago  I  was  in  Cape  Palmas,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  below  Monrovia,  and  an  old  king  who  lived  eighty  miles 
away  heard  of  my  presence  there.  He  got  into  his  canoe  and 
came  all  the  way  down  the  Cavally  River  to  see  me.  Bright  and 
early  one  morning  he  made  his  appearance  and  bowing  before 
me,  pleaded  for  a  teacher  for  his  people  and  for  someone  to 
show  them  “God-way.”  He  had  learned  of  what  the  mission 
was  doing  for  one  of  the  tribes  below  him,  and  he  felt  that  his 
people  could  not  keep  up  unless  there  was  someone  to  give  them 
the  light.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  promise  him  that  as 
soon  as  possible  I  would  send  him  someone,  and  I  feel  that  there 
are  very  few  here  to-day  but  that  would  have  done  the  same.  I 
promised  him  on  faith  as  I  have  had  to  promise  others,  and  I 
am  glad  to  say  that  the  worker  sent  there  has  made  an  excellent 
beginning.  When  I  visited  the  place  I  held  services  in  the  com¬ 
bination  church  and  dwelling  they  had  erected  and  baptized 
those  who  had  been  brought  into  the  kingdom. 

While  at  Wissika  Mission,  sixty  miles  up  the  Cavally  River, 
the  chief  men  of  the  nearest  native  town,  twelve  in  all,  came  to 
me  and  asked  that  I  build  a  church  in  their  home  town  for  them. 
They  were  so  insistent  that  the  missionary  urged  me  to  do  so  if 
possible.  I  asked  them  what  they  would  do  to  assist,  and  they 
replied  that  they  would  go  in  “the  bush”  and  saw  the  heavy 
timbers  for  the  building.  At  the  Annual  Conference  our  mis¬ 
sionary  reported  that  much  of  the  material  necessary  had  already 
been  gotten  out.  What  I  am  trying  to  do  is  to  secure  money 
enough  to  purchase  the  iron  for  the  roofing,  the  doors,  the  win¬ 
dows,  and  ceiling.  I  feel  that  I  must  be  ready  by  the  time  they 
are,  and  am  confident  that  God  will  open  the  way  for  me  to  do 
so,  as  he  has  done  in  so  many  other  cases.  It  would  be  easy  to 
cite  other  instances  in  which  the  people  are  every  bit  as  anxious 
to  abandon  heathenism,  but  I  consider  it  unnecessary  to  do  so 
at  this  time. 


SELF-HELP  AND  SELF-SUPPORT 

It  is  evident  that  you  will  be  interested  also  to  know  the 
progress  our  membership  is  making  along  the  line  of  self-help 


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FOUR  YEARS  IN  LIBERIA 


and  self-support.  The  fact  that  they  have  not  been  large  con¬ 
tributors  to  the  support  of  their  own  work  is  not,  in  my 
judgment,  because  they  are  opposed  to  doing  so,  but  because,  as 
it  seems,  it  has  not  been  required  of  them,  and  being  for  the 
most  part  a  poor  people  and  therefore  not  able  to  give  largely, 
they  had  never  realized  what  could  be  accomplished  by  the 
united  effort  of  those  of  limited  means.  When  Bishop  Gilbert 
Haven,  of  blessed  memory,  visited  this  field  in  1876,  he  wrote 
back  to  America  that  no  collections  were  taken,  and  church- 
houses  dropped  down  unless  kept  up  by  missionary  help.  He 
went  to  Clay  Ashland,  on  the  Saint  Paul  River,  and  wrote  the 
“Christian  Advocate”  that  there  was  only  one  church  in  the 
place  and  that  was  the  Baptist.  The  Methodist  was  in  ruins  by 
rain  and  neglect.  The  Presbyterian  and  Episcopalian  were  gone, 
and  he  concluded  that  too  much  help  did  it. 

These  were  the  conditions  then,  but  I  believe  the  facts  will 
justify  me  in  saying  that  a  remarkable  change  has  come  over 
Liberia  in  the  last  two  years.  The  first  year  I  was  there  I 
visited  a  community  for  a  sojourn  of  a  few  days  and  was  waited 
upon  the  first  night  I  was  there  by  a  committee  asking  that  I 
furnish  the  money  to  rebuild  the  church.  I  told  them  I  could 
get  some  money  to  help  them  when  they  began  work.  But  this 
statement  did  not  discourage  them,  for  they  held  on  and  they 
pressed  their  case  until  a  late  hour.  They  were  greatly  annoyed, 
were  vexed  with  me,  but  thinking  I  was  right  I  stood  my 
ground.  Several  months  passed  before  I  was  there  again.  This 
time  the  frame  of  the  church  was  up,  inclosed  and  roofed.  Hav¬ 
ing  some  special  funds  in  hand  I  assisted  them  some  and  left 
them  happy.  Since  that  time  I  have  visited  that  community 
again,  and  preached  in  their  church,  of  which  they  are  justly 
proud.  They  have  purchased  an  organ,  a  beautiful  communion 
set,  and  in  other  ways  added  to  the  attractiveness  of  their  new 
church.  As  a  further  indication  of  what  is  being  accomplished, 
our  first  church  in  Monrovia  is  remodeling  the  building  at  a 
cost  of  more  than  $12,000.  On  the  Sunday  that  Bishops  Burt 
and  Hartzell  were  present  this  church  raised  $2,000,  and  their 
repair  fund  now  amounts  to  upward  of  $10,000  in  actual 
cash. 

Mount  Scott  Church,  Cape  Palmas,  a  building  named  in 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  SCOTT 


9 


memory  of  Bishop  Levi  Scott’s  visit  to  the  Conference  in  1856, 
has  been  remodeled  at  a  cost  of  $7,000,  and  the  Annual  Con¬ 
ference  was  held  in  this  magnificent  structure  last  February. 

The  Clay  Ashland  Church,  to  which  Bishop  Haven  referred 
in  his  communication,  has  just  collected  and  expended  on  the 
improvement  of  the  building  upward  of  $1,000.  A  number  of 
smaller  societies  are  at  work  either  repairing  or  enlarging  their 
houses  of  worship,  and,  as  a  rule,  have  all  or  part  of  the  money 
in  hand  to  do  so.  In  order  to  understand  fully  the  amount  col¬ 
lected  throughout  the  Conference  I  asked  the  brethren  at  the 
session  visited  by  Bishop  Burt  to  report  what  was  raised  in  the 
different  charges  for  self-help.  That  year  it  was  $10,781.  At 
the  recent  session  held  the  figures  given  for  the  year  were 
$23,241,  and  for  the  quadrennium,  $35,270.38. 

I  believe  it  but  fair  to  say,  also,  that  the  civilized  portion  of 
the  community  is  becoming  more  and  more  interested  in  the 
salvation  of  the  heathen.  When  I  saw  an  opportunity  to  take 
over  a  building,  which  had  been  erected  for  mission  purposes, 
as  a  memorial  to  a  young  colored  woman  who  had  formerly 
labored  as  a  missionary  in  Liberia,  and  needed  $313  to  do  so,  I 
called  on  the  Sunday  School  Board  of  the  First  Church,  Mon¬ 
rovia  ;  they  replied :  “All  right.  Bishop,  we  will  give  it  to  you.” 
And  they  did  it.  We  have  in  this  mission  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  members,  most  of  whom  only  a  few  months  ago  were 
in  heathenism ;  we  have  also  a  day  school,  with  an  enrollment  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  a  Sunday  school  equally  as  large. 

I  feel  it  but  just  to  say  in  this  connection  that  some  credit  is 
due  the  Liberian  government  for  the  way  it  treats  our  missions 
with  regard  to  duties  on  supplies  shipped  into  the  republic.  All 
material  for  building  purposes,  all  food,  supplies,  and  material 
for  clothing  the  children  gathered  into  the  missions,  and  all 
medicines  to  be  used  for  them,  are  admitted  free  of  duty.  You 
will  better  understand  the  advantage  this  gives  when  I  tell  you 
that  when  Bishop  Hartzell  was  in  America  last  he  bought  a 
number  of  church  bells,  costing  him  less  than  $100.  These  he 
ordered  sent  to  the  mission  in  Angola,  a  Portuguese  colony  of 
West  Africa.  The  authorities  there  charged  $750  duty,  and  he, 
rather  than  pay  this,  concluded  to  send  them  to  me  at  Monrovia, 
which  was  done.  The  Liberian  authorities,  after  being  assured 


10 


FOUR  YEARS  IN  LIBERIA 


that  I  intended  to  use  them  for  mission  purposes,  admitted  them 
without  one  cent  cost. 

WHAT  HAS  BEEN  ACCOMPLISHED 

When  I  announced  at  the  first  session  of  the  Conference  I 
held  in  Africa  that  it  was  my  purpose  to  push  the  causes  of 
temperance,  evangelism,  and  self-support  the  announcement 
created  no  enthusiasm,  but  recent  developments  have  convinced 
me  that  the  Conference  is  now  in  full  accord  with  me  in  these 
lines  of  work. 

In  order  to  promote  the  cause  of  temperance  I  secured  the 
cooperation  of  a  number  of  the  best  and  most  intelligent  women 
of  the  republic,  together  with  some  of  the  missionaries.  Several 
largely  attended  and  enthusiastic  public  meetings  were  held  and 
the  attention  of  hundreds  of  people  was  called  to  the  evils  and 
destructiveness  of  strong  drink.  You  will  understand  why 
progress  along  this  line  must  of  necessity  be  slow  when  you  are 
reminded  of  the  vast  quantities  of  rum  and  gin  that  are  im¬ 
ported  by  European  firms  for  the  purpose  of  trade  among  the 
native  people.  And  yet  I  feel  perfectly  safe  in  saying  that  the 
native  Church  of  Liberia  is  a  temperance  Church,  for  no  one 
is  received  who  does  not  pledge  himself  to  abstain  from  strong 
drink,  and  if  he  be  a  polygamist,  to  give  up  all  but  one  wife. 

Along  the  lines  of  evangelism  and  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  the  cause  has  been  pushed  as  strenuously  as  we  found  it 
possible  to  do  without  the  assistance  of  someone  specially  adapted 
to  such  work.  At  times  the  success  attained  in  some  of  the 
missions  has  been  marked  and  most  satisfactory.  At  one  of  our 
stations  called  Grand  Cess  one  year  the  number  of  conversions 
reported  at  the  Conference  session  was  so  large  that  it  was 
thought  best  not  to  include  the  figures  in  the  statistics  until 
proper  investigation  could  be  made.  In  due  time  this  was  done 
and  the  result  found  to  be  entirely  satisfactory.  And  I  am 
glad  to  say  that  at  that  point  alone  there  have  been  during  the 
quadrennium  fully  five  hundred  conversions,  and  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  preaching  there  more  than  once  when  it  was  found 
impossible  to  hold  the  services  in  the  church  because  of  the 
immense  crowd  in  attendance.  It  is  a  glorious  scene  to  witness 
some  of  the  revival  meetings  among  the  native  people.  It  seems 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  SCOTT 


11 


to  me  that  nothing  is  more  encouraging  to  a  missionary  in  a 
heathen  land  than  to  witness  the  conversion  of  those  for  whose 
salvation  he  prays  and  labors  and  waits.  It  delights  his  heart 
to  see  living  evidence  before  his  very  eyes  that  the  old  gospel 
still  has  power  to  save. 

And  just  here  I  feel  that  I  cannot  do  better  than  tell  of  the 
influence  of  two  little  hymn  books  in  the  native  dialect  which 
we  have  published  this  quadrennium.  To  hear  the  people  sing 
the  hymns  in  their  own  language  is  enough  to  inspire  any 
man  with  the  thought  that  the  day  of  salvation  for  Africa  is  at 
hand.  How  they  seem  to  sweep  the  people  into  the  kingdom !  I 
felt,  as  did  some  of  the  workers,  that  if  we  could  have  the  people 
sing  the  gospel  in  their  churches,  in  their  homes,  and  in  the 
streets  of  the  towns,  a  larger  number  could  be  reached  thus  than 
in  any  other  way.  In  this  way  we  felt  that  they  would  all 
become  helpers  in  preaching  the  Word.  It  was  a  difficult  un¬ 
dertaking,  because  the  heathenism  of  our  part  of  Africa  is  totally 
unlettered.  We  employed  translators,  but  having  no  dictionary 
had  to  spell  the  words  by  sound  as  best  we  could.  The  first  effort 
on  this  line  was  made  at  the  Garroway  Mission,  and  as  the 
result  a  convenient  little  booklet  of  translated  hymns  was  pub¬ 
lished.  Then  came  another  at  Krootown,  adjoining  Monrovia, 
and  now  the  missionaries  at  Wissika  are  at  work  on  a  third. 
How  the  people  enjoy  singing  these  hymns !  and  it  does  anyone, 
interested  in  missions,  good  to  listen  to  them.  They  sing  on  the 
great  steamers  of  the  coast.  They  sing  as  they  carry  you  in  the 
hammock  through  the  dark  and  dismal  swamps.  They  sing  as 
they  pull  the  surf  boats  from  one  trading  post  to  another,  and  I 
have  heard  them  sing  in  the  services  of  their  churches  until  it 
seemed  that  even  the  roofs  responded  to  their  heartfelt  enthu¬ 
siasm  and  joy.  We  also  had  published  on  cardboard  the  Lord’s 
Prayer,  the  Apostles’  Creed,  and  the  Ten  Commandments. 
These  we  hang  in  the  native  cabins  and  our  workers  teach  the 
people  as  to  their  use  and  meaning.  However,  it  is  only  neces¬ 
sary  to  say  further  that  God  blessed  us  with  450  conversions  for 
the  first  year,  510  the  second,  653  the  third,  and  581  the  fourth, 
making  a  total  of  2,191  persons  born  into  the  kingdom  for  the 
quadrennium.  The  statistics  for  the  first  year  of  the  quadren¬ 
nium  showed  our  membership  to  be  553  probationers,  2,748  full 


12 


FOUR  YEARS  IN  LIBERIA 


members,  a  total  of  3,301.  The  figures  reported  at  the  Annual 
Conference  held  recently  give  1,103  probationers,  3,194  full 
members,  the  total  membership  being  4,297,  a  gain  for  the  quad- 
rennium  of  996.  The  gain  in  church  property  for  the  quad- 
rennium  is  $44,318. 

We  are  at  work  among  the  native  people  at  forty-two  different 
points,  many  of  which  could  be  made  strong  and  influential 
missions  during  the  next  quadrennium  if  I  could  only  have  the 
money  and  a  few  more  good  workers  to  help  make  them  so. 

As  much  as  I  thank  God  for  what  has  been  accomplished,  I 
appreciate  more  the  doors  that  stand  wide  open  before  a  hesi¬ 
tating  Church — the  ease  with  which  we  may  now  reach  those 
who  were  formerly  so  difficult  of  approach.  0,  that  our  King 
who  owns  the  silver  and  the  gold,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand 
hills,  would  send  us  the  men  and  the  money  to  carry  forward 
the  work  that  we  may  save  dying  men  and  thus  glorify  God. 
My  only  desire  is  to  be  able  to  do  my  part  in  saving  the  heathen 
world,  but  it  is  a  waste  of  time  and  a  useless  sacrifice  of  life  and 
health  to  ask  men  and  women  to  go  to  the  front  to  do  the 
Master’s  work  and  yet  leave  them  without  the  resources  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  prosecution  of  the  same.  The  appropriation  is  far 
too  small  for  advance  movements,  or  even  the  proper  support  of 
what  we  have.  In  this  connection  I  am  reminded  of  an  incident 
which  is  said  to  have  occurred  on  one  of  the  principal  rivers  of 
Liberia.  Several  European  traders  were  being  conveyed  up  the 
river  in  a  surf  boat,  which  was  pulled  by  some  native  boys.  In 
an  altercation  between  one  of  the  traders  and  one  of  the  boys 
the  trader  received  a  severe  blow  on  the  head.  They  determined 
at  once  to  cast  the  native  overboard.  On  being  asked  if  he  could 
swim,  he  said  he  could.  “Well,  then,”  said  one  of  the  traders, 
“we  will  tie  your  hands  and  see  if  you  can.”  And  this  they  did. 
The  boy  was  thrown  overboard  and  when  it  looked  as  though  he 
would  surely  drown  someone  plunged  in  and  rescued  him.  The 
great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  elected  me  for  the  work  I 
now  have,  and  sent  me  into  the  wilds  of  Africa.  I  know  full 
well  what  is  expected  of  me  and  have  been  trying  with  all  my 
might  to  meet  the  expectation.  But  to  put  even  a  Bishop  in 
Africa  without  adequate  money  and  equipment  is  to  tie  his  hands 
and  cast  him  overboard.  I  have  twenty-five  native  schools  and 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  SCOTT 


13 


churches  unhoused  and  without  equipment.  I  need  at  least 
fifteen  workers  from  the  home  field  and  have  not  the  money  to 
provide  even  one  third  of  them. 

If  I  could  have  five  hundred  $15  scholarships,  twenty-five 
native  workers  provided  for  at  $40  each,  $1,000  a  year  to  carry 
out  and  support  an  evangelist,  and  even  $2,000  a  year  to  equip 
some  of  my  native  stations,  we  should  very  soon  be  able  to  double 
the  present  membership.  O,  Church  of  God,  untie  my  hands, 
untie  my  hands ! 

My  only  plea  is  for  the  Church  to  give  me  a  fair  chance  to 
show  what  can  be  done.  I  beg  of  you  to  forget  the  color  of  my 
skin,  forget  the  past  history  of  my  people,  forget  that  Africa 
has  not  hitherto  proven  as  productive  a  mission  field  as  some 
others,  and  hear  once  more  the  voice  of  the  Master  as  he  cries, 
“Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.” 


